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Hannon's Block

The exterior of the Hannon's Block building on Monroe Street in downtown Toledo caught my eye the other day. Built in 1874, the structure may have been the first Toledo building that was wired for electric light.

The Toledo Free Press reported in March that Hannon's Block will be "renovated into modern, “green living” apartment and town home-style residential spaces." Certainly the opening of the new downtown arena - coupled with the Mud Hens and Fifth Third Field - makes the area much more viable for development. The project is slated to be finished by November, and there will be street-level retail space that complements the lofts and town homes in the residential portion of the building.

It is indeed refreshing to see development in downtown Toledo, especially development that actually comes to fruition. Far too often in the recent past exciting projects have been announced that ultimately never seem to leave the initial demolition stage.

Walking Along the Toledo Riverfront

Left: Riverfront view of dowtown Toledo, Ohio

I had a half hour to kill the other afternoon before meeting someone in downtown Toledo for lunch, and I decided to cross the Maumee River and spend a few minutes walking along the riverfront. I did not view any vistas previously unseen by my eyes, but I found the early afternoon sunshine and light waves lapping against the piers to be calming, almost peaceful.

Toledo, being in the middle of the American Rust Belt, has far more than its share of problems, yet none of the political and economic crises faced by the city manifested themselves as I strolled in front of the restaurants at International Park. No mayoral recalls, no unemployment spikes, and no city revenue struggles bothered me as I walked.

My own problems also faded from my consciousness as I made my way along the eastern shore of the Maumee. Work could have been a thousand miles away as far as I was concerned, and neither health concerns nor parental worries about my adult children troubled me.

While I was in no way ready to burst into a manic chorus of "The Sound of Music," neither was I weighed down with the uncertainties and vexations that had been my companions just minutes earlier. I certainly failed to achieve what Zen Buddhists call satori, yet the peace of mind I gained continued to stay with me the rest of the day.

I vow to spend more time walking on the riverfront.

It's Pea-Pickin' Time in Toledo

I am cultivating a small crop of snow peas this year, and over the past few days the pink-white blossoms began to turn into the flat pods that are the hallmark of this variety of peas.

These snow pea pods have a mildly sweet taste, and they are best eaten before the seeds get too big, at which time the pod becomes fibrous and tough.

I experimented with a different system this year to get the vines to grow better. About every eight inches I placed a four-foot bamboo stake, and I wove hemp string in between the stakes to create a latticed string effect upon which the tendrils could grab hold. The result is a series of bushy vines almost four feet in height, and the yield seems to be much higher than in years past.

Of course, there are not enough pea pods for me to be checking out moving companies Los Angeles, but we had plenty for a side dish at dinner tonight.

On Lumbar Punctures and Bone Marrow Harvests

Left: image of bone marrow harvesting courtesy of Wikipedia

If you ever hear a physician use the words "bone marrow harvest" or "bone marrow biopsy" or "lumbar puncture," I recommend that you discreetly sneak out the back door of whatever institution in which you might be present at that moment.

I'm just sayin'.

There can be nothing pleasant when a doctor inserts sharp pointy needles in your back, that's for sure, and despite all the promises that "Lidocaine will numb you up," there are some bizarre and painful sensations when those needles run into stray nerves. My physician assured me that I would only feel "heavy pressure," but there were some moments when the sharp pain in my back radiated down my left leg like a lightning strike.

Even stranger than the electrifying nerve sensations is the sound of hearing the T-handled trephine needle being twisted into your posterior iliac crest. This is a crunching and grinding noise that I assume is akin to that which accompanies a Velociraptor making quick work of your bony carcass.

The funny part was when the nurse said that "it's usually after the Lidocaine wears off in 3-4 hours that people feel pain." Oh, goody: you mean the real pain starts later?

If there is anything positive about such procedures, it is that they last about 10-15 minutes. This time will be reduced if you can manage to keep from tightening up your back muscles, though this is much easier said than done. Bone marrow harvesting also goes faster if the physician does not produce a "dry tap," which is when the syringe fails to suck out sufficient marrow.

I learned that term the hard way, I might add, as the first two suction attempts failed to produce any meaningful amount of marrow.

Luckily I have the weekend off, with the exception of some grading and lecture prep, so if I feel like bayoneted Jacobite Highlander after the Battle of Killiecrankie later today, I at least have the solace of knowing that work can wait another day.

On Plagiarism, PowerPoint, and Footnotes for Presentations

Left: Properly footnoted PowerPoint slide; click image for larger size

In a recent lecture I poked a bit of self-deprecating fun at myself for an especially erudite definition of a term that I put into a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.

"Whoa - that's WAY too smart for me to have thought of on my own," I intoned. "I just HAD to have copied that from someplace."

The students chuckled, as this was an intended joke, but then I started thinking out loud.

"As I stand here," I said, "I regularly remind my students about the importance of proper citation in their work, and I wouldn't dream of writing a paper without copious footnotes, yet I think nothing of copy-and-pasting images and text into my PowerPoints."

I promised the class that I would do some research on the subject, and I have spent some time over the past day reading up on the use of citations in PowerPoint presentations. As I suspected, most style guides now recommend the use of citations for copyrighted material used in presentations, and some guides even recommend that ALL material not the property of the presentation author should be cited.

Yet there is a problem for historians, who still use the footnote/endnote citation method best exemplified by the Chicago Manual of Style: PowerPoint does not offer a footnote or endnote tab. However, after some experimentation, I developed a fairly simple method for footnoted references, which I share below. Feel free to offer any suggestions or criticisms in the Comments section of this post.

Footnotes in PowerPoint Presentations

1. You will need to add the superscript button to the Quick Access Toolbar. Right-click on the tool ribbon and highlight "Customize Quick Access Toolbar." Next, select "Choose from commands not on the ribbon," highlight "Superscript," and hit the "Add" button. This will move the Superscript button to the Quick Access Toolbar, and you can hit "OK" to make this change permanent in your PowerPoint toolbar.

2. When you want to add a superscripted footnote, hit the Superscript button and type the appropriate number. Hit the Superscript button again to turn off the function.

3. Next, go to the "Insert" tab and select "Text Box." Hit the Superscript button, type the number, and add the citation information (author, work title, publisher, year, and page number). You can adjust the font size to 10 or 12 to make the footnotes smaller and less obtrusive. I also recommend using the Slide Master (under the View tab) to set up the placement of an automatic text box at the bottom of every slide for your footnotes.

4. For endnotes, you will need to create an extra slide at the end of the presentation and manually type the endnotes using the same procedures as above. Of course, if someone has a question during the presentation such as "where did you get that picture," you will have to scroll ahead to the footnotes page. I personally think that the same-slide footnotes make better sense, but this is an aesthetics problem.

As Gigi Peterson noted in an excellent article entitled "Doing the “Write” Thing: Reflections on Academic Integrity," following proper citation practices in classroom presentations is not just good scholarship, but it also allows educators the opportunity to model these practices and set the example for our students.

One could make the argument that classroom teaching constitutes an example of the fair use doctrine, and you probably would win that debate on legal grounds, but ultimately instructors can best teach the high standards of academic scholarship by demonstrating this behavior in every lecture.

On the Death of Dr. Robert Brundage

Left: oil portrait of Robert Brundage by artist Lisabelle

It saddened me to learn late yesterday of the death of Dr. Robert Brundage, a community activist, Renaissance man, and an all-around special human being. Dr. Bob clung to life for two weeks after being attacked by a teenager who stole his bicycle, an old 10-speed worth about a dollar per gear.

I only briefly knew Robert Brundage in passing, as he was one of those people who seemed to be traveling in some of the same circles as me. Yet the many testimonials from people who knew him better help me realize what a tremendous human asset this area has lost.

As for the bike-stealing thug: I will not wish him to rot in hell, but I have no problem with an especially long sentence being doled out. Dailahntae Jemison turns 16 next month, so the job of pushing for him to be tried as an adult is easier. It would be a shame if Jemison was tried as a juvenile and he left a detention facility at age 21.

I suspect Jemison's attorney will first fight to maintain juvenile status, and if that fails, that his attorney will seek a plea bargain for manslaughter or negligent homicide. Despite my outrage over this senseless killing, it is unlikely a jury would convict the young idiot Jemison of aggravated murder in what appears to be a robbery-gone-horribly-wrong.

Yet my thoughts keep returning to Robert Brundage, a man I wish I knew better. In re-reading a bunch of his old Toledo Talk posts, I realized how much wisdom I might have gleaned from him had I become his friend.

More importantly, though: Northwest Ohio and the world lost a caring and decent man who gave so much and asked for so little in return. Dr. Bob eschewed the trappings of material wealth in favor of a simpler lifestyle, and he championed causes that benefitted everyone.

Even the teenaged Dailahntae Jemison.

On Weight Loss and Milestones

I climbed on the scale this morning and saw digits my eyes have not witnessed in years: I was under 220 pounds for the first time in almost a half-decade. Granted, at this moment my weight was precariously perched on the verge of lapsing into the next quintile, but there is a special satisfaction in knowing that the caloric sacrifices I have been making actually seem to be working.

My previous attempts at weight loss tended to run their courses after a week or so, and I used to quickly lose 5-10 pounds only to regain the weight in the following months. However, those diets simply involved eating less of the same sorts of unhealthy foods that caused me to gain weight in the first place.

While I would obviously prefer the fattier and carb-laden meals I have always enjoyed, the only way I am going to successfully get my weight, triglycerides, and glucose under control is by sticking to a healthier lifestyle: more fruits and vegetables, low lipid intake, and daily exercise.

I know, I know: those of you who actually practice healthy living already know this, but I humbly offer my insights to the rest of the world, those who struggle with weight loss and the hidden problems associated with the regular consumption of unhealthy foods.

Bonsai!

While my neighbors invested many hundreds - and perhaps thousands - of dollars in loud fireworks, I spent the last few minutes of my Fourth of July looking at a nine-year-old Japanese juniper, the plant in the accompanying image. Yes, friends: I am now the proud owner of a bonsai tree thanks to my wife, who bought me the plant this afternoon.

Perhaps "owner" is too strong of a term, and maybe I should exchange it for a word such as "caretaker."

It should be no surprise to regular visitors of this blog that I would eventually gravitate toward the cultivation of such plants, given my affinity for horticulture and my periodic dabblings into philosophical traditions such as Zen Buddhism. Yet I have to admit my interest really grew after I repeatedly passed an outdoor vendor on a local thoroughfare who parks a van in front of vacant building.

I would post the corner where he occasionally sets up shop, but I would hate to tip off the city bureaucrats about an unlicensed merchant. After all, the city of Toledo cannot adequately repair the roads or keep a lid on crime, but they sure know how to harass citizens who run afoul of legal technicalities, like the folks who were ticketed for building gravel turnarounds on their own property.

If nothing else, caring for the bonsai tree will give me something to do between the end of fantasy football season and the last frost, when I start planting seeds.

Fiery Lilies

Pictured on your left are a group of lilies in my yard that begin to bloom each year around the first of July. What I especially enjoy about these colorful flowers is the way that they almost seem to be on fire when sunlight hits them, as if scarlet-hued tongues of flame are leaping from the stems onto the fence and the house.

I think that the specific name of this flower is the Stargazer Lily, though I may be wrong since there are far too many many hybrids and new varieties that emerge in horticulture for any non-specialist to keep up with all the names.

The blossoms of this lily are so heavy that I have to assist the plants by tying a few strands of hemp string to keep the lengthy stems upright. Otherwise, the brilliant red petals would fall over and turn into fodder for the many feet that would trample the flowers, which are located near the front door of the house.

On the Slow Road to Ideal Weight and Optimal Health

Left: seven down, lots to go

In my conscious decision to embrace a more healthy lifestyle, I decided that the cornerstone to my boost in physical exercise would be walking. In the past 11 days I have logged more than 40 miles, ranging anywhere from two to four miles on my 45-year-old legs per day.

My effort to lose 30 pounds is also based upon calorie counting and daily caloric reductions, and I initially tried eating only 1500 calories a day. However, after a week of this highly restrictive diet I found that I was actually more tired, and I recently upped my total to a more realistic 2000 per day.

My initial weight loss has been decent, and I am down seven pounds in just under two weeks (from just under 230 pounds to about 222 pounds). Yet I have to be on guard against complacency, since I am notorious for diets that last about 1-2 weeks, and in which I slowly regain the 5-10 pounds I lost.

This time, though, I am also paying attention to the quality of food I eat, and I have all but eliminated fats and refined sugars from my daily intake. Instead I am consuming whole grains, high-fiber cereals, low-fat meats like fish and chicken, and lots of fruits and vegetables. A snack for me over the past week is likely to be a banana, a tangerine, or a handful of edamame.

I would love to say that I am immediately reaping the benefits of healthier eating and increased exercise, but so far my body seems in transition. I suppose that it will be many weeks before it adjusts to dietary changes, and that the damage from years of excess sugars, fats, and cholesterol cannot be repaired with a couple of weeks of better living.

I can say, though, that most of my clothes fit better, and that my urges to pig out get satiated with low-calorie alternatives like soybeans and yogurt. Perhaps that is enough for the moment.

On Walking and Buffalo Heads

One of the pleasant side effects of walking around the neighborhood is seeing the hidden features of your community, sights that would remain unseen if all you do is drive through your little corner of the Earth. Such is the case with the fungal growth on the oak tree pictured on your left, which struck me as rather buffalo-like when I approached it from the north.

I have driven this stretch of my street hundreds - perhaps thousands - of times, and I before never noticed the apparition of the snorting buffalo. Yet the creature loomed just over my head in my recent walks, and I wondered instead how previously I could have missed this three-foot appendage, even while I was driving.

Then, too, other people might see different shapes or objects in the misshapen formation, and what appears to me as obvious might be completely missed by another viewer from a different angle, or even from a person standing in the same spot I did. Also, the image undoubtedly looks different through the lens of a digital camera as it might when captured by people with digital camcorders.

Feel free to offer your interpretations of the arboreal tumor in the comments section.